The present invention relates to a structural element for thermal insulation between two building parts, particularly between a building and a projecting external part.
Various embodiments of structural elements for thermal insulation are known from prior art, which serve primarily to support building parts projecting from buildings, such as balcony bases, through a thermally insulating building joint. Here, the integrated reinforcing elements ensure the required transfer of force and/or moment, while the insulating body is responsible to distance the two building parts from each other in a thermally insulating fashion and to maintain a joint.
Here, the structural elements must be used for thermal insulation at various installation situations, with primarily the elements for tensile reinforcement battling space problems, in the installed state of the structural element extending essentially horizontally and perpendicular in reference to the essentially horizontal longitudinal extension of the insulating body, passing through it, and respectively projecting in the horizontal direction from the insulating body, and here allowing building parts, preferably made from concrete, to be connected to at least one of the two building parts. Primarily in case of different levels between the two adjacent building parts, thus particularly the balcony and the ceiling plate, the tensile reinforcement elements must be arranged such that in spite of spatial problems they provide the required anchoring in the adjacent building parts.
Various approaches for a solution are known from prior art, in which the tensile reinforcement elements are embodied with, for example a curved progression in reference to the horizontal level, as shown in DE-A 197 36 501 or EP-A 0 947 640, or a stepped progression as shown in EP-A 1 600 569. This way, the tensile reinforcement elements can be adjusted in their orientation, at least in case of suitable arrangements, to the form of the abutting building part; for example a progression of the tensile reinforcement elements curved downwards can lead to the tensile reinforcement elements extending to a progression of the corresponding building part stepped in reference to the structural element for thermal insulation. Additionally, solutions are known in which the tensile reinforcement elements show complex, curved forms, for example bent into loops, in order to ensure the tensile force via a so-called overlapping joint. This approach of a solution originates particularly when tensile reinforcement elements are used in the context with cantilevers supporting facades, with the cantilevers exhibiting a very limited length in the axial direction and thus offering insufficient space for anchoring in the cantilever if any tensile reinforcement element extended in a straight and horizontal fashion.
Finally, instead of the common rod-shaped tensile reinforcement elements, it is also known to use tensile reinforcement elements comprising a head bolt, which in addition to a rod-shaped central section, passing through the joint between the two building parts, shows two conical expansions at the two ends, which ensure a positive connection between the tensile reinforcement element and the building part. While the curved or stepped tensile reinforcement elements show no particular advantage with regards to a reduction of the anchoring and/or installation length, but at best can ensure that the tensile reinforcement elements can extend into the sections of abutting building parts with different elevation levels, when the above-mentioned head bolt is used such a reduction of the anchoring and/or installation length can be yielded without any problems. However, here the reinforcements at the building must be placed precisely next to the head bolt in order to allow compensating and/or transferring tensile forces in the joint, caused by the construction, in the area of the conical expansions of the head bolt.
The major difficulty is here given, though, in that the reinforcement at the building must already be positioned and partially encased in concrete when the precise position of the head bold it not yet known. Accordingly, this approach for a solution shows a considerable disadvantage in its practical application.